University collaboration

Academic partnerships for innovation

At ABB, innovation is our lifeblood: We are constantly striving to find new ways to make our customers more competitive and minimize environmental impact.

That is why we work with the very best academic talent in a wide range of disciplines, such as materials science, software, power electronics and electromagnetics, to name but a few.

ABB invests heavily in university collaborations, as reflected by our existing partnerships with more than 70 universities worldwide, to develop long-term disruptive technologies as well as mid- to short-term evolutionary innovations for our existing products and services. 

Research groups interested in collaborating with ABB are encouraged to contact the nearest ABB Corporate Research Center via the Contact form on our website. The research centers are located in China, Germany, India, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States; please choose one of these countries from the dropdown list for the best response time.


Collaboration structure

The collaborations are structured in the following ways:

  • ABB-directed research that is primarily funded by ABB to work with identified universities (based on, eg, access to competencies outside the company) on projects with a commercial focus.
  • Targeted RFPs (requests for proposals), such as the ABB Research Award in Honor of Hubertus von Gruenberg.
  • Strategic university partnerships: We partner with university leaders to develop research and education programs with regular workshops and seminars, graduate-level placements at ABB and more.
  • Industrial PhD programs: We provide funding for a number of ABB employees pursuing PhDs in commercially relevant areas.
  • Consortia of government, business and academic partners focus on mutually beneficial projects, aiming to implement technologies in the field.
  • Professors who divide their time between ABB and academic institutions, directing commercial projects, guiding PhD students and shaping educational programs at partner universities.

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